McDonald’s organic bid to lure customers
Embattled fast-food chain McDonald’s is to start selling organic produce in its restaurants from next month in a desperate attempt to curry public favour. The company will replace all cartons of non-organic milk with organic milk, but it will continue to use non-organic milk in milkshakes and sundaes.
The global outfit, famous for its processed food, says the change is in response to customer demand. It claims it was unable to offer organic milk before because it could not guarantee adequate supplies.
The news comes as the fast-food giant warns it will make a quarterly loss for the first time in its 47-year history for the period ending December 31, 2002. It is in the process of closing restaurants around the world, including at least six sites in London.
In August last year, its Swedish restaurants began selling organic milk and organic ice cream. Sweden’s McDonald’s also said it was considering organic coffee, but had ruled out selling organic burgers.
In the UK, McDonald’s has been selling free-range eggs for the past two years in its breakfast products.
In June, the company announced a three-year &£300,000 sponsorship of the Food Animal Initiative (FAI), a research project launched by Oxford University to find a mid-way point between organic farming and modern farming methods.
McDonald’s says it is considering selling other organic products, such as ice cream, in the future, but adds that its strategy will be influenced by developments at the FAI.
